Pete Pihos

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Alternative Titles:
Peter Louis Pihos, The Golden Greek

Pete Pihos, (Peter Louis Pihos; “The Golden Greek”), American football player (born Oct. 22, 1923, Orlando, Fla.—died Aug. 16, 2011, Winston-Salem, N.C.), was a mainstay of the NFL’sPhiladelphia Eagles for nine years (1947–55) and helped the team achieve unprecedented back-to-back NFL championship titles: after the Eagles lost the title to the Chicago Cardinals in Pihos’s rookie season (1947), he was central to the team’s 7–0 victory over the Cardinals the next year, and in the 1949 title game, he caught a 31-yd pass to score the opening touchdown in Philadelphia’s 14–0 win against the Los Angeles Rams. Pihos, a versatile player who was able to switch easily between offense and defense, won All-American honours twice (1943, 1945) while at Indiana University. In his nine seasons with the Eagles, he missed only one game and made 373 catches for 6,519 yd and 61 touchdowns; he led the NFL in receptions for three seasons (1953–55) and in touchdown catches once (1953). Pihos earned All-Pro honours five times, was named to six Pro Bowls, and was inducted into both the College (1966) and the Pro (1970) Football Hall of Fame. In later years he suffered from dementia, which some doctors attributed to the head injuries that he sustained during his playing years.